Day 13 - Port Angeles WA to Victoria BC

September 2017

Day 1 - Toronto to Chesterton IN
Day 2 - Chesterton IN to Rochester MN
Day 3 - Rochester MN to Lincoln NB
Day 4 - Lincoln NB to Denver CO

Weekly recap with more photos
Day 5 - Denver CO to Rapid City SD
The Curtis Hotel Denver CO funky themed floors
Day 6 - Rapid City SD Mount Rushmore City of Presidents
Day 7 - Rapid City SD to Billings MT Crazy Horse and Little Big Horn
Day 8 - Billings MT to Driggs ID
Day 9 - Jackson Hole WY and Grand Teton NP

Day 10 - Yellowstone National Park

Day 11 - Driggs ID to Spokane WA

Weekly Recap
Day 12 - Spokane WA to Port Angeles WA


September 17

Up early to catch the ferry, we have to be there an hour ahead at 7:30. Not quite bright as we drive to the ferry.

Our passports are checked, we pay for our return trip and are assigned a parking spot. Once we complete a customs form with name and date of birth we are free to wander. We go for coffee.

Art created by children called “Fish on the Fence” is located along the waterfront near the Landing Mall.

A closer look at the totem poles.

I'm not sure what this represents.

A gorgeous sunrise.

We board the ferry and take what we need as no one is allowed down on the car deck until it is time to disembark in Victoria.
It is a 90 minute crossing so we arrived around 10 AM.

Approaching Victoria.

Disembarking in Victoria, we easily clear Canadian customs.

We had decided on the ferry that we would go straight to Butchart Gardens, been on my bucket list forever and John is just perplexed as to why I am so excited to be finally going there!

The gardens deserve their own post but let's just say that John was impressed.

When the limestone quarry on the Butchart family estate was exhausted, Mrs. Butchart decided a bit of landscaping would spruce up the area. A few years later in 1904, the magnificent Sunken Garden was opened to the public. Since then the family has added a rose garden, an Italian garden and a Japanese garden. More than 1 million plants are displayed throughout the course of a year, including 700 varieties of flowers.

We managed to see almost all of the gardens when it started to rain so we scurried to the car.

Next stop was Sidney. It continued raining as we had lunch and then strolled.

.Banners on the main street.

Like many towns, the utility boxes are decorated with local decor.

A dark and gloomy day.

One of Sidney's first sculptures, the "Old Man by the Sea" has graced Sidney's waterfront since 1991.

A little girl placed this flower as we were taking photos.

Jake James Pirate

According to its plaque, the diver was carved from a single, 80-foot tall standing red cedar tree by Alan C. Porter in the mid-1980s, then donated to the town by the Hotel Sidney [now the Sidney Waterfront Inn and Spa].

A mural dedicated to the oceans.

B.C. wildlife

It's raining harder, we've been up since 6 AM, it is now 3 PM so we decide we should check if we can check in and relax. YES!

We are here for two nights!